Point Of Departure Andrew Hill

• 1 Refuge 12:14
• 2 New Monastery 07:02
• 3 Spectrum 09:45
• 4 Flight 19 04:10
• 5 Dedication 06:41
• Total Runtime 39:52

Info zu Point Of Departure

Point Of Departure is not only one of the greatest jazz recordings of 1964, but of all time. The stellar lineup (Eric Dolphy, Kenny Dorham, Joe Henderson, Richard Davis and a teen aged Tony Williams) was given a set of challenging compositions by the brilliant pianist and composer Andrew Hill. This group created the album known as Point of Departure, an acknowledged modern day classic and one of Blue Notes most extraordinary recordings. Andrew Hill was a quiet revolutionary, but he was every bit as original in his conception as Thelonious Monk. Hill extended, twisted and turned hard bop into his own very fresh and personal music. Like Eric Dolphy, Hill spawned few imitators. His conception was so pure, and so unique, both as a player and as an arranger-composer that nearly a half century later, Point Of Departure remains a brilliant touchstone of modern jazz.

Alfred Lion considered Andrew Hill his last major discovery and rightly so. Hill's rich, rhythmic piano and utterly unique compositions stand alone. Point Of Departure is Hill's masterpiece with rich three-horn arrangements for Kenny Dorham, Eric Dolphy and Joe Henderson. Richard Davis and Tony Williams complete this high level ensemble.

'The sound is superb, with large soundstage, striking immediacy, and terrific dynamic scaling, and the range of tone colors—from Dolphy along—richly layered and gorgeous.' (Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound)

Kenny Dorham, trumpet
Eric Dolphy, alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flute
Joe Henderson, tenor saxophone
Andrew Hill, piano
Richard Davis, double bass
Tony Williams, drums

Recorded on March 21, 1964 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Engineered by Rudy Van Gelder
Produced by Alfred Lion

Digitally remastered

Andrew Hill
was a great and even groundbreaking composer and pianist, yet the relatively circumscribed scale of his innovations might have originally caused him to get lost in the shuffle of the '60s free jazz revolution. While many of his contemporaries were totally jettisoning the rhythmic and harmonic techniques of bop and hard bop, Hill worked to extend their possibilities; his was a revolution from within. Much of the most compelling '60s jazz was nearly aleatoric; Hill, on the other hand, exhibited a determined command of his materials, however abstract they might sometimes be. His composed melodies were labyrinthine, and rhythmically and harmonically complex tunes like 'New Monastery' from his Point of Departure album exhibit a sophistication born of mastery, not chance or contingency. As a pianist, Hill had a flowing melodicism and an elastic sense of time. Like his composing, Hill's playing had an ever-present air of spontaneity and was almost completely devoid of cliché.

He began playing the piano at about the age of 13. As a youngster in Chicago, Hill was encouraged by pianist Earl Hines. Jazz composer Bill Russo also took an interest, and introduced Hill to the renowned classical composer Paul Hindemith, with whom Hill studied from 1950-1952. While in his teens, he gigged with prominent jazz musicians passing through the Midwest, Miles Davis and Charlie Parker among them. In 1955, he recorded So in Love with the Sound of Andrew Hill for the Warwick label. He moved to New York in 1961 to work with singer Dinah Washington. After a brief foray to Los Angeles with Rahsaan Roland Kirk's band in 1962, Hill moved back to New York, where he began his recording career in earnest.

He made several records for Blue Note from 1963-1969, both as leader and sideman. Hill's Blue Note work featured some of the best and brightest post-bop musicians of the day, including Eric Dolphy, Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Tony Williams, and Freddie Hubbard. Like many jazz musicians, Hill eventually turned to academia to make a living. He received his doctorate from Colgate University and served as the school's composer in residence from 1970-1972. Hill relocated to the West Coast, teaching in public schools and prisons in California. He eventually landed a teaching position at Portland State University, where he established the school's Summer Jazz Intensive. In addition to his teaching, Hill continued to perform and record in the '70s and '80s, making records for the Arista-Freedom and Black Saint/Soul Note labels. In 1989 and 1990, Hill recorded twice more for Blue Note, Eternal Spirit and But Not Farewell.

Hill moved back to the New York area in the '90s; a series of performances and new recordings helped place him back in the jazz spotlight. Hill formed a new Point of Departure Sextet for the Knitting Factory's 1998 Texaco Jazz Festival. The band included saxophonists Marty Ehrlich and Greg Tardy, trumpeter Ron Horton, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Billy Drummond. The band went on to play New York club engagements to much acclaim. In 2000, Palmetto Records released Dusk, which was named the best album of 2001 by Down Beat and Jazz Times magazines. It was followed by A Beautiful Day in 2002, Passing Ships in 2003, and Black Fire in 2004, as well as a solid series of Blue Note reissues of his '60s work that included bonus tracks and new liner notes. His 2006 album, Time Lines, reunited him with both trumpeter Charles Tolliver and the Blue Note label. Hill also participated in a 17-piece big band, and a January 2002 engagement at New York's Birdland was filmed and recorded by Palmetto for future broadcast. After battling lung cancer for many years, Hill succumbed to the disease on April 20, 2007, leaving behind a stunning legacy of work. (Chris Kelsey, Source Blue Note)

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